More details are being released in Saturday morning’s crash between a bus and semi truck.
Advertisement
The driver of the bus was identified as 56-year-old Elie Dupiche of Belle Glade. The passenger of the vehicle Rafael Nieves was unharmed in the accident and was in the sleeper in the truck at the time. He estimated that between 7 and 10 of the passengers were still in serious condition.
Authorities were working Saturday to notify the families of the victims.
Five people were killed and 25 injured when an aged bus carrying farmworkers collided with a tractor-trailer and both vehicles burst into flames Saturday at a highway intersection in the Florida Panhandle, authorities said.
Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office is advising people to avoid the area and use Newport cut off road to access St. Marks.
One person was airlifted from the scene.
He said the bus was headed south on a north-south state road when it collided with the tractor-trailer, which was westbound on USA 98 – a Florida coastal highway.
According to reports, the bus ran the light at the intersection and collided with the semi.
The driver of the semi and four people on the bus were killed, authorities said.
The Sheriff says this may be the worst crash that the county has had. Bissainthe said he was unaware of where the bus was headed. Scene of the deadly crash in Wakulla, Florida.
The semi truck caught fire and disintegrated in the crash, which knocked down a power line.
Some of the injured were taken to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare and Capital Regional Medical Center. “They pulled out two deceased victims”, said Creel. “They saved a lot more people”.
Advertisement
The bus was traveling from Georgia and filled with Haitian migrant workers. After they worked in Belle Glade, they were going to head north to find more work.
